Home Game Poker Help?

Question

We have a weekly game thats been going for at least 1-1/2 years and all the players involved have been playing for at least 2. So the question we have is when one player announces a hand as a losing hand but someone else points it out as a winning hand who should get the chips the person who won without the correction or with? But the reason I ask is because one player in our game constantly gets away with announcing a losing hand and still getting chips when other players point out he has a winning hand so we have started a new rule that the hand you announce is the hand you play. Even though the rule has been in place it only affects other players and he still gets his chips back somehow after complaining or playing dumb(maybe being).

Answer 1

I deal poker in Las Vegas and the rule is that all cards speak for themselves, so even though he did not know his hand was the winner he is still entitled to the pot, unless the hand was mucked by the player or dealer. If you have already pushed the pot before you realized his hand was the winner, then you are not dealing right, because all losing hand's should be mucked by the dealer before the pot is pushed to the winner. The only hand left before the pot is pushed should be the winning hand, all other hands should be in the muck. So if his hand is live and he hasn't seen he had the winner then he gets the pot because cards speak for themselves, just as long as his hand is live and not mucked it is good.

Answer 2

I am assuming you are playing a game like Texas Hold 'em or some similar game with hole cards and community cards. Officially, in games like that, the cards "speak for themselves" - meaning that you don't have to know that you have the winning cards to be the winner.

That being said, since it is your weekly game, you could make up the rules any way you please, as long as you notify everyone in advance. With forewarning, no one should complain about house rules. BTW, we called this the Pari (pronounced Pur-ee) rule after my old Kenyan roommate who never seemed to know he had the winning hand but stayed in to the end anyway. The problem with this type of house rule is that it becomes a bit tricky when deciding what to do when someone doesn't know they've won but someone else yells out in excitement, etc. It's probably best to stick to the According-to-Hoyle rules and letting the cards speak for themselves. Then you can forget worrying about it and concentrate on taking your slow friends money.

Good luck!

Mike-CNS

Answer 3

Most of the time, the hand that wins is the best hand SHOWN, regardless of who says what to who, and of course the money goes to the player who holds the winning hand.

House rules are often different, and that's up to you, but be aware that if you play anywhere else, THE CARDS SPEAK. What the player says doesn't matter.

More advice on home poker games here: http://www.church-of-texas-holdem.com/how-to-set-up-poker-tournament.html